News archive from 16 March 2014

SCOTTISH ministers have accused the UK government of threatening the future of the Caledonian Sleeper service by planning to move the trains to the other side of London during high-speed rail construction work.
Transport minister Keith Brown said he...

EDUCATION Secretary Michael Gove has hit out at the "ridiculous" numbers of Old Etonians in David Cameron's inner circle.
In an interview, Gove said such a “preposterous” concentration of individuals from the same privileged background at...

POLICE officers in Northern Ireland were last night warned to be vigilant after members of the force escaped injury during a bomb attack in Belfast.
A bomb hidden in the grounds of Belfast City ­Cemetery was triggered just as a police vehicle was...

The one-day event was organised by four groups led by Cuban Americans for Engagement (CAFE), founded two years ago to counteract the influence of traditional Cuban exile organisations that support the embargo. Held at a hotel conference room it...

The Progressive Party (SNS) forced the snap election after just 18 months in coalition government, saying it needed a stronger mandate to pursue a much-needed overhaul of the Serbian economy.
Opinion polls suggest it may win more than 40 percent of...

US comedian David Brenner has died at 78. Photograph: George Best/Getty Images David Brenner, the gangly, toothy-grinned Tonight Show favourite whose brand of observational comedy became a staple for other standup comedians, including Jerry Seinfeld...

SAVERS reaching retirement with small pension pots could be set for a timely fillip in a Budget that will have one eye on next year's general election.
Pressure is growing on the Chancellor to relax the rules restricting the amount of pension savings...

WITH Morrisons in crisis following dismal trading, thriving rivals Aldi and Lidl are piling pressure on beleaguered chief executive Dalton Philips, writes Kristy Dorsey
IT WAS the sort of fanfare difficult to imagine just a few years ago when the...

OVER the past five years, no-one has more thoroughly documented our economic misfortunes than the Fraser of Allander Institute. It has chronicled our shortfalls and kept up an unrelenting siren call for more investment and government spending.
All...

LORD Myners' shocking revelations about the Co-operative Group confirmed our worst fears about poor stewardship, which led last week to the sudden resignation of its chief executive Euan Sutherland.
Myners’ verdict on the Co-op as a badly-run...

TOP City headhunters, including the female recipient of an OBE for services to workplace gender equality, have questioned the value of having all-women shortlists for boardroom appointments.
Business Secretary Vince ­Cable has called for an...

HIGH street darling Next is expected to mark a milestone this week when its annual profit haul overtakes that of bellwether Marks & Spencer for the first time in its 32-year history.
Analysts say the chain, which runs more than 500 stores in the...

THE number of NHS patients in Scotland waiting more than a month for potentially life-saving tests has soared dramatically in the past year.
Figures reveal the number of patients on the waiting list for vital diagnostic tests that can pick up serious...

RUTH Davidson will today pledge that the Scottish Conservatives would restore the prescription charge to pay for 1,000 extra nurses and midwives.
The leader of the Scottish Conservative Party said her party would take the controversial step if it...